My daughter wrote an essay last night on religion versus spirituality. I decided to do one too. Here's Mom's mix:
Religion is a system of beliefs, usually adopted by a group. Involved in religion are notions of right and wrong and demands for observance. Spirituality is an individual's relatedness to God. Often in our culture of extremes, religion and spirituality are kept apart. But when they are wed, the result is a beautiful transformation of life and society.
Because religion is belief based it's exclusive. In fact, attempts to remove exclusivity from religion usually amount to a "system" devoid of intellectual and religious integrity. It is not the belief aspect that bothers most in the West, however, it's the group aspect. Many of the rugged individualists in the contemporary West chafe under the restraints of the expectations of the group.
Let's face it, groups are difficult. It's not good when one person makes a mistake, but when a group is in error, the results are often devastating. People are hurt and terrible injustices perpetrated. With that in mind it's interesting that, for Christians, being a part of the group (the church) is clearly God's will.
Spirituality is different. Spirituality is the unique relationship that the individual has with God. Here the focus is not on rules of observance, but rather the I and Thou of relationship; hence the appeal for so many today. Divorced from religion, spirituality frees the individual from anything but the romantic (or should I say romanticized) aspects of a relationship with God. Spirituality is as prone to error as religion. When this happens, the damage to the individual is perhaps greater than in a group dynamic. Could we, in fact, benefit when someone who loves us exposes our error?
The truth is that religion and spirituality were never intended to be kept apart. Jesus is the perfect picture of an integrated life. It's interesting that the religious establishment was so often enraged by him. For Christians involved in the life of the church, it's helpful to keep in mind that the status quo is continually challenged by the presence of Jesus. His involvement, through the spirituality of individuals (the work of the Holy Spirit), serves as a continual correction to the life of the group. Presbyterians would say, "reformed and always reforming."
Humans are prone to error. It's the human condition; the church calls it "sin". Humans together tend to sin bigger, but the converse is also true: humans together can do much greater good than the individual alone is capable of.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Only YOUR Assignment
I was reading the Lectionary today and came across some interesting verses- Acts 16: 6-9
"They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help up.'"
Paul and Silas were on a missionary journey. Their goal was to proclaim the gospel everywhere and to everyone. In the passage above, however, God's idea was for them to proclaim the gospel in certain places to certain people. After obeying the Holy Spirit, Paul receives a vision directing him to Macedonia. It is there God calls Paul.
What about Asia and Bithynia? The Great Commission calls for the preaching of the gospel to the entire world. From a strategic perspective Asia would seem a better move than Macedonia.
Though logic may argue that we should spend our energies expediently (the most bang for the buck - Asia vs. a tiny part of modern day Turkey), clearly God's plan is specific in terms of timing and who He chooses to send for a job.
It's with the best intentions that many of us want to barge ahead and do some good. We see a need and our desire is to rush in and work to move good things forward - or perhaps stop some evil. If we are aware of something that needs to be done, we reason, then it must be our job to do it. Well... maybe it is and maybe it isn't.
So... if you're facing a decision about where to go and what to do, it's probably a good idea to pause and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. If you're hearing a "no" that doesn't make sense to you (given the need), alter your course. God's strategy is sometimes counter intuitive, but His plans are perfect and His timing impeccable.
"They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help up.'"
Paul and Silas were on a missionary journey. Their goal was to proclaim the gospel everywhere and to everyone. In the passage above, however, God's idea was for them to proclaim the gospel in certain places to certain people. After obeying the Holy Spirit, Paul receives a vision directing him to Macedonia. It is there God calls Paul.
What about Asia and Bithynia? The Great Commission calls for the preaching of the gospel to the entire world. From a strategic perspective Asia would seem a better move than Macedonia.
Though logic may argue that we should spend our energies expediently (the most bang for the buck - Asia vs. a tiny part of modern day Turkey), clearly God's plan is specific in terms of timing and who He chooses to send for a job.
It's with the best intentions that many of us want to barge ahead and do some good. We see a need and our desire is to rush in and work to move good things forward - or perhaps stop some evil. If we are aware of something that needs to be done, we reason, then it must be our job to do it. Well... maybe it is and maybe it isn't.
So... if you're facing a decision about where to go and what to do, it's probably a good idea to pause and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. If you're hearing a "no" that doesn't make sense to you (given the need), alter your course. God's strategy is sometimes counter intuitive, but His plans are perfect and His timing impeccable.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
In His Right Mind
Have you ever wondered what happened to some of the folks that Jesus encountered in his ministry? In His Right Mind, by Craig McDonald explores the life of the Gadarene demoniac (Mark 5) in the years after his deliverance from a legion of demons. Remember, this man (Simon of the Tombs in the novel) begged Jesus to allow him to join with the disciples, but was refused. Jesus told him, instead, to go and tell of God's compassion.
That is precisely what Simon does. He travels throughout the Decapolis (ten cities) and obeys Jesus' instructions with childlike simplicity. Simon's life is full of gratitude and simple faith, and he shares his story with everyone he meets. The connections he makes have a ripple effect - immediately touching many, and eventually influencing thousands.
I won't tell you any more, I'll simply urge you to read the book. The story is good - and good for you! In His Right Mind explores what happens when we respond with faith to whatever revelation we're given. There is also a very insightful and interesting look at the mixed motives at work in the lives of every person - even the faithful. It is available through Amazon - either on Kindle or in trade paperback.
Our lives count for the Kingdom, and no matter how simple our gifts, God can use them to accomplish His purposes. I don't know about you, but I find that a great comfort and encouragement.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Restored - A Sermon for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
Scriptures:
Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Luke 13: 10-17
I watched the movie The 3:10 To Yuma the other day. What struck me about the movie is that it’s so hard to tell who the good guy is. Every adult character is either just plain bad, or has been so weighed down by wounds and sorrows from the past that the fabric of their lives is run through with strands of bitterness that colors their actions and motivations. As dark as things in the movie were, however, there was also a strand of redemption and restoration. A father and son’s sacrificial love for one another begin to change things even in the darkest heart.
As I pondered the movie when it was over, I thought that though extreme in their violence, the people portrayed were pretty realistic. There is a lot of suffering and sin in the world and everybody’s touched by it. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who the good guy is. But just as the love of a father and son changed things in The 3:10 To Yuma, the love of our Heavenly Father and His Son bring redemption and restoration to our dark hearts.
We have an interim pastor right now at First Presbyterian, and he’s been giving us three words every week to spark our memory as we meditate on his sermon during the week. It works pretty well for me, so I’d like to give you three words this morning that you can use this week to remember the scriptures we read and think about what God may up to in your life. The first word is brokenness, the second is healing, and the third is restoration.
Brokenness: The woman in the synagogue in Luke 13 was certainly living with brokenness. She’d been “crippled” by a spirit that kept her bent over for eighteen years. She walks around every day facing the ground. Getting a view of anything but people’s feet required a great effort on her part – a craning of her neck. And there she is in the synagogue with Jesus, so used to her condition that she doesn’t think to seek him out and asked to be healed.
Many of us are “bent over” and crippled just like the woman in the synagogue. Weighed down by sins and wounds that we’ve carried for years we must strain to see ahead of us – never mind enjoy the view from above! And sadly, like her, we are so used to our condition that it never occurs to us that we could be free from our brokenness. No one is exempt from this. No matter how together or perfect someone appears, if you look below the surface of anyone’s life, you’ll find some degree of brokenness. And because families, churches, and organizations are made up of broken people, all of those relationships and systems are broken too.
While there’s no direct mention of sin causing the woman’s condition, it’s important to point out that there is a rich interrelationship between sin and brokenness in the Bible. If we do not recognize the ways that we walk away from God and others – sin -- then we cannot truly search for wholeness. All of us are sinners and victims of sin. Only by dealing with our own sin can we be open to God’s grace to make us whole.
Healing: Though the woman does not seek out Jesus for healing, he sees her and calls her over. First he tells her that she is “set free” from her ailment. Then he reaches out and touches her. Jesus could have healed her with merely a word as he did for the man with the withered hand in another Sabbath healing story. But in this case, Jesus reaches out and touches the woman, and then she stands up straight and praises God. The woman’s infirmity – her uncleanness - had isolated her from the community. Jesus, however, calls her a daughter of Abraham, and touches her showing that she is not marginalized but accepted.
You know, it seems to me that brokenness has a way of marginalizing us every bit as much as it did people in the first century. Maybe we’re not shunned by the community, but the effects of our brokenness keep us on the sidelines. Now when you hear the word “brokenness” you may be thinking about the big things like addictions or diseases or mental illness. But the truth is that many of the things that leave us broken are small, unacknowledged things: bitterness, resentment, destructive patterns in our relationships, or negative things we believe about ourselves that are simply untrue. Brokenness is anything that keeps us from living a full, free, and unfettered life in community and before God.
Whether we admit it or not, those burdens that keep us bent over are often a source of shame in our minds. We’d rather folks not know about our fears and insecurities or dysfunction. It’s much better to have it together. But Jesus knows who we are and what we fear even when we appear to have it all together. And he reaches out to touch us too, offering healing. He says that we are sons and daughters of Abraham, fully accepted and loved members of the community, and that he wants to heal us – to make us whole.
Restoration: Jesus restores the woman. He brings her back into her rightful place in the community. Healing miracles in the Bible are signs of the reign of God. Where Jesus is, the Kingdom is. His ministry provides a foretaste of the coming Kingdom where the world and His people will be restored. All of the wrongs will be made right: people made whole, relationships restored, justice and righteousness established forever.
God’s has always blessed His people so that they would be a blessing to others. He redeems and heals us so that we are able to freely partner with Him as He brings restoration to the world. Our lives have a purpose, a calling to partner with God in His work of restoration.
In our Old Testament Lectionary reading from this morning, we read of Jeremiah’s call. God tells Jeremiah that He knows him and formed him. God designed Jeremiah for a purpose. God tells Jeremiah that he has appointed him to “pluck up and pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Some of that doesn’t sound so good – destroying and overthrowing, plucking up and pulling down… But let’s admit it, there are things that need to be destroyed and pulled down: oppression, racism, abuse, and the machinery that makes poverty a way of life for so many. And there is much that should be built up and planted: love, reconciliation, justice, and peace. There is a lot of Kingdom building to be done, and as disciples of Jesus Christ we are to be about doing it.
In this morning’s passage, Jeremiah demurs when he hears God’s call. He’s not up to it. He’s too young. He doesn’t know how to speak. Jeremiah’s fears of inadequacy mirror our own. We never run out of excuses: “I’m too young; I’m too busy with work; with raising a family; I’m too old…” At every stage of our lives we have an excuse. Our sense of brokenness plays into our excuses too: “ I’m afraid; I’m sure I don’t have what it takes; the work will overwhelm me…”
God, however insists that He has a mission for Jeremiah. He will be Jeremiah’s companion on the journey; He’ll put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth; He will deliver Jeremiah. God promises the same for us too. If you’re a Christian and you’re alive, then you have a call on your life to be about the business of restoration. As we reach out and touch those whom God sends to us, we participate with Him in healing, restoring, and Kingdom building. As grateful recipients of God’s love, grace and healing, we become generous dispensers of that which we have received. May God grant us a vision of His work in our lives, the lives of others, and in the world.
Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Luke 13: 10-17
I watched the movie The 3:10 To Yuma the other day. What struck me about the movie is that it’s so hard to tell who the good guy is. Every adult character is either just plain bad, or has been so weighed down by wounds and sorrows from the past that the fabric of their lives is run through with strands of bitterness that colors their actions and motivations. As dark as things in the movie were, however, there was also a strand of redemption and restoration. A father and son’s sacrificial love for one another begin to change things even in the darkest heart.
As I pondered the movie when it was over, I thought that though extreme in their violence, the people portrayed were pretty realistic. There is a lot of suffering and sin in the world and everybody’s touched by it. Sometimes it’s hard to tell who the good guy is. But just as the love of a father and son changed things in The 3:10 To Yuma, the love of our Heavenly Father and His Son bring redemption and restoration to our dark hearts.
We have an interim pastor right now at First Presbyterian, and he’s been giving us three words every week to spark our memory as we meditate on his sermon during the week. It works pretty well for me, so I’d like to give you three words this morning that you can use this week to remember the scriptures we read and think about what God may up to in your life. The first word is brokenness, the second is healing, and the third is restoration.
Brokenness: The woman in the synagogue in Luke 13 was certainly living with brokenness. She’d been “crippled” by a spirit that kept her bent over for eighteen years. She walks around every day facing the ground. Getting a view of anything but people’s feet required a great effort on her part – a craning of her neck. And there she is in the synagogue with Jesus, so used to her condition that she doesn’t think to seek him out and asked to be healed.
Many of us are “bent over” and crippled just like the woman in the synagogue. Weighed down by sins and wounds that we’ve carried for years we must strain to see ahead of us – never mind enjoy the view from above! And sadly, like her, we are so used to our condition that it never occurs to us that we could be free from our brokenness. No one is exempt from this. No matter how together or perfect someone appears, if you look below the surface of anyone’s life, you’ll find some degree of brokenness. And because families, churches, and organizations are made up of broken people, all of those relationships and systems are broken too.
While there’s no direct mention of sin causing the woman’s condition, it’s important to point out that there is a rich interrelationship between sin and brokenness in the Bible. If we do not recognize the ways that we walk away from God and others – sin -- then we cannot truly search for wholeness. All of us are sinners and victims of sin. Only by dealing with our own sin can we be open to God’s grace to make us whole.
Healing: Though the woman does not seek out Jesus for healing, he sees her and calls her over. First he tells her that she is “set free” from her ailment. Then he reaches out and touches her. Jesus could have healed her with merely a word as he did for the man with the withered hand in another Sabbath healing story. But in this case, Jesus reaches out and touches the woman, and then she stands up straight and praises God. The woman’s infirmity – her uncleanness - had isolated her from the community. Jesus, however, calls her a daughter of Abraham, and touches her showing that she is not marginalized but accepted.
You know, it seems to me that brokenness has a way of marginalizing us every bit as much as it did people in the first century. Maybe we’re not shunned by the community, but the effects of our brokenness keep us on the sidelines. Now when you hear the word “brokenness” you may be thinking about the big things like addictions or diseases or mental illness. But the truth is that many of the things that leave us broken are small, unacknowledged things: bitterness, resentment, destructive patterns in our relationships, or negative things we believe about ourselves that are simply untrue. Brokenness is anything that keeps us from living a full, free, and unfettered life in community and before God.
Whether we admit it or not, those burdens that keep us bent over are often a source of shame in our minds. We’d rather folks not know about our fears and insecurities or dysfunction. It’s much better to have it together. But Jesus knows who we are and what we fear even when we appear to have it all together. And he reaches out to touch us too, offering healing. He says that we are sons and daughters of Abraham, fully accepted and loved members of the community, and that he wants to heal us – to make us whole.
Restoration: Jesus restores the woman. He brings her back into her rightful place in the community. Healing miracles in the Bible are signs of the reign of God. Where Jesus is, the Kingdom is. His ministry provides a foretaste of the coming Kingdom where the world and His people will be restored. All of the wrongs will be made right: people made whole, relationships restored, justice and righteousness established forever.
God’s has always blessed His people so that they would be a blessing to others. He redeems and heals us so that we are able to freely partner with Him as He brings restoration to the world. Our lives have a purpose, a calling to partner with God in His work of restoration.
In our Old Testament Lectionary reading from this morning, we read of Jeremiah’s call. God tells Jeremiah that He knows him and formed him. God designed Jeremiah for a purpose. God tells Jeremiah that he has appointed him to “pluck up and pull down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” Some of that doesn’t sound so good – destroying and overthrowing, plucking up and pulling down… But let’s admit it, there are things that need to be destroyed and pulled down: oppression, racism, abuse, and the machinery that makes poverty a way of life for so many. And there is much that should be built up and planted: love, reconciliation, justice, and peace. There is a lot of Kingdom building to be done, and as disciples of Jesus Christ we are to be about doing it.
In this morning’s passage, Jeremiah demurs when he hears God’s call. He’s not up to it. He’s too young. He doesn’t know how to speak. Jeremiah’s fears of inadequacy mirror our own. We never run out of excuses: “I’m too young; I’m too busy with work; with raising a family; I’m too old…” At every stage of our lives we have an excuse. Our sense of brokenness plays into our excuses too: “ I’m afraid; I’m sure I don’t have what it takes; the work will overwhelm me…”
God, however insists that He has a mission for Jeremiah. He will be Jeremiah’s companion on the journey; He’ll put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth; He will deliver Jeremiah. God promises the same for us too. If you’re a Christian and you’re alive, then you have a call on your life to be about the business of restoration. As we reach out and touch those whom God sends to us, we participate with Him in healing, restoring, and Kingdom building. As grateful recipients of God’s love, grace and healing, we become generous dispensers of that which we have received. May God grant us a vision of His work in our lives, the lives of others, and in the world.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
All The King's Horses & All The King's Men
You don't have to look far to observe a lot of brokenness. In fact, it's all around us: in the world, our local communities, our families, and (perhaps most significantly) in ourselves. Psychologists talk about much brokenness coming from one's family of origin and the Bible agrees: "punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments" (Ex 20: 5-6).
That sounds pretty harsh, but I think it's just common sense. There are definite patterns of behavior that are passed on from generation to generation whether you're talking addictions or dysfunction of other sorts. Children see or hear their grandparents or parents behaving in certain ways and those behaviors seem normal. In some cases (like addictions) genetic predispositions come into play as well.
The result is that brokenness is unavoidable. All of us are victims and perpetrators. Victims because... well because we're humans born into families. Perpetrators because to greater or lesser degrees - as we choose - we live into brokenness rather than wholeness. Remember that God not only promised that children would be punished for the sins of their fathers for three or four generations, but also blessed down to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Leaving brokenness behind and moving toward wholeness is a choice - a decision. Many prefer brokenness. It provides an excuse to fail, to mistreat one's self or others, and does not require the hard work of moving toward freedom.
We're all Humpty Dumpty. And although all the king's horses and all the king's men can't put us back together again, the King both can and will. We simply have to ask Him to - and then do whatever is necessary to leave behind our fears, compulsions, sins, etc. It's a long and arduous journey, but one that leads to wholeness, peace, restoration, and glory - yes glory - as we become the people we were always intended to be.
That sounds pretty harsh, but I think it's just common sense. There are definite patterns of behavior that are passed on from generation to generation whether you're talking addictions or dysfunction of other sorts. Children see or hear their grandparents or parents behaving in certain ways and those behaviors seem normal. In some cases (like addictions) genetic predispositions come into play as well.
The result is that brokenness is unavoidable. All of us are victims and perpetrators. Victims because... well because we're humans born into families. Perpetrators because to greater or lesser degrees - as we choose - we live into brokenness rather than wholeness. Remember that God not only promised that children would be punished for the sins of their fathers for three or four generations, but also blessed down to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Leaving brokenness behind and moving toward wholeness is a choice - a decision. Many prefer brokenness. It provides an excuse to fail, to mistreat one's self or others, and does not require the hard work of moving toward freedom.
We're all Humpty Dumpty. And although all the king's horses and all the king's men can't put us back together again, the King both can and will. We simply have to ask Him to - and then do whatever is necessary to leave behind our fears, compulsions, sins, etc. It's a long and arduous journey, but one that leads to wholeness, peace, restoration, and glory - yes glory - as we become the people we were always intended to be.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Not In the Strength of The Horse Nor The Speed of The Runner
Last week I was driving to work feeling like a big zero. My primary vocation is "mother" and I was not feeling terribly successful. In fact I was feeling like I was failing. Parenting teenagers is not for the faint of heart...
On Saturday I went to a presbytery meeting and there were several people "examined" before being approved as ministers of Word and sacrament. One of the questions asked one of the candidates was concerning infant baptism. I thought of my answer (which btw was Martin Luther's originally). When Luther baptised infants, he stood before the congregation with the baby in his arms and quoted the scripture that says, "See what love the Father has for us that we would be called children of God. And so we are."
What Luther was saying is that when you look at a baby it's clear that he or she brings nothing to God. Not their faith, not their works. Nothing. The truth of the matter is that no matter what age you are, you bring nothing to God. Even faith is a gift granted by the grace of God. If you have it, it's only because God has given it to you. Even all of the potential for good embodied in the life of an infant is there as a gift from God (no one can take credit for their intelligence, beauty, etc.).
So riding down the road last week I was brought back to the reality that I may fail in my primary vocation (I hope not), but even if I do, I'm not a big zero. God is not so interested in what I bring to the table in terms of what I can do for Him. Instead, He's seeking one thing: love. Mine and yours. Like the baby being baptized, he loves us because he does. And that's what He hopes to receive back from us. It's really the only thing we have to offer Him.
Psalm 147: 10-11
"His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love."
On Saturday I went to a presbytery meeting and there were several people "examined" before being approved as ministers of Word and sacrament. One of the questions asked one of the candidates was concerning infant baptism. I thought of my answer (which btw was Martin Luther's originally). When Luther baptised infants, he stood before the congregation with the baby in his arms and quoted the scripture that says, "See what love the Father has for us that we would be called children of God. And so we are."
What Luther was saying is that when you look at a baby it's clear that he or she brings nothing to God. Not their faith, not their works. Nothing. The truth of the matter is that no matter what age you are, you bring nothing to God. Even faith is a gift granted by the grace of God. If you have it, it's only because God has given it to you. Even all of the potential for good embodied in the life of an infant is there as a gift from God (no one can take credit for their intelligence, beauty, etc.).
So riding down the road last week I was brought back to the reality that I may fail in my primary vocation (I hope not), but even if I do, I'm not a big zero. God is not so interested in what I bring to the table in terms of what I can do for Him. Instead, He's seeking one thing: love. Mine and yours. Like the baby being baptized, he loves us because he does. And that's what He hopes to receive back from us. It's really the only thing we have to offer Him.
Psalm 147: 10-11
"His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love."
Monday, July 26, 2010
Resting
How rested are you? If you're like me maybe you can sing along with James Taylor, "I've been spreading myself thin these days, don't you know." There seems to be no end to demands on our time and attention. It's probably fair to say that most of us are tired. Weary might be a better word...
But it's not simply that we're physically tired is it? We're living in troubled times. The economy provides plenty of fodder for worry. So do the wars abroad and fears of terror at home. Our society's not in the greatest shape either. Hopes that our economic woes would refocus us as a nation (much the way the Great Depression did) have not come to fruition. I've received plenty of emails stirring up a sense of worry about all of these things. For folks my age, there are added family worries: teenagers and aging parents!
In spite of all there is to worry about, Christians are called to rest. In Matthew 11: 28-29 Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. The writer of Hebrews talks about entering God's rest in chapters 3 and 4. Some, the writer says, never enter God's rest? Why? Because of their unbelief.
Was the problem that they didn't believe in God? No. Instead those who never entered God's rest did not believe that God would take care of them. They refused to go into the Promised Land because they didn't believe that the God who plagued the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea, and miraculously provided for their nourishment in the desert could grant them victory in this new venture.
God was calling them to a sort of active passivity. They were to go up into the land BUT trust that God would be the one to do the actual work of bringing victory. The Israelites simply had to do whatever He told them to do.
Usually when I find myself stressed out about something it's because I've forgotten that I'm called to the same kind of active passivity. God calls me to listen for His voice and do my best to be sure, but He also calls me to trust all of the important stuff (outcomes) to him. He's got it. He can handle it. And He's reliable. If we truly take His yoke upon us we will find rest for our souls.
But it's not simply that we're physically tired is it? We're living in troubled times. The economy provides plenty of fodder for worry. So do the wars abroad and fears of terror at home. Our society's not in the greatest shape either. Hopes that our economic woes would refocus us as a nation (much the way the Great Depression did) have not come to fruition. I've received plenty of emails stirring up a sense of worry about all of these things. For folks my age, there are added family worries: teenagers and aging parents!
In spite of all there is to worry about, Christians are called to rest. In Matthew 11: 28-29 Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. The writer of Hebrews talks about entering God's rest in chapters 3 and 4. Some, the writer says, never enter God's rest? Why? Because of their unbelief.
Was the problem that they didn't believe in God? No. Instead those who never entered God's rest did not believe that God would take care of them. They refused to go into the Promised Land because they didn't believe that the God who plagued the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea, and miraculously provided for their nourishment in the desert could grant them victory in this new venture.
God was calling them to a sort of active passivity. They were to go up into the land BUT trust that God would be the one to do the actual work of bringing victory. The Israelites simply had to do whatever He told them to do.
Usually when I find myself stressed out about something it's because I've forgotten that I'm called to the same kind of active passivity. God calls me to listen for His voice and do my best to be sure, but He also calls me to trust all of the important stuff (outcomes) to him. He's got it. He can handle it. And He's reliable. If we truly take His yoke upon us we will find rest for our souls.
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